Ideas for journaling: What on earth should I write?

If you already know the 6-Minuten-Verlag , you know that we prefer to focus on habits that make us feel good. Keeping a diary is one of them.

Through expressive writing about stressful situations and trauma, you can reduce feelings of anxiety for up to three months after the writing exercise. [1] [1] Psychological and physiological effects of expressive writing NCBI (2013): Effects of Expressive Writing on Psychological and Physical Health: The Moderating Role of Emotional Expressivity

If you put your feelings into simple words or even in the form of cheesy songs and poems, you stimulate the amygdala, the emotional centre in the brain. This reduces the intensity of your feelings and lowers your stress level. You make use of the so-called "Bridget Jones effect,” as psychologist Matthew Liebermann humorously titled his discovery. [2] [2] Keeping a diary makes you happier The Guardian (2009): “Keeping a diary makes you happier" In short, keeping a diary is definitely part of the daily routine for a healthy mind.

But what if the empty page intimidates you and you ask yourself: “What on earth should I write about?” Below you will find ideas for various diary contents and reflection questions that you can combine as you please.

Diary writing idea #1: The daily Ups and downs

Use your diary to get one over on the fleetingness of the world and capture it in ink on paper. In a few months, you can reminisce or chuckle about the problems that used to cause you headaches.

Write in a classic diary style: What happened? Who was involved? Who said what? How did the people involved react? What chain of events was set in motion by the actions? Also note times and places if this information is important to you. Also add: What do you think about the events? How do you feel about them?

How extensive you make your entries is entirely up to you. Perhaps your passion for recording daily events will become as great as Anne Lister's? In just 49 years, the Englishwoman wrote a total of 27 volumes with approx. 6,600 pages and almost four million words. In them, she recorded not only changes in the weather but also business plans or political events of the 19th century. She wrote about a sixth of her diaries in secret code. In this coded part, she wrote in detail about her conquests and loves – all women. [3] [3] The Diaries of Anne Lister Treasures of the West Yorkshire Archive Service: The diaries of Anne Lister from 1808-1840 There is both a film as well as a brand-new Netflix series about “England's first lesbian”.

I am determined not to let my life pass without a personal monument of memory. – Anne Lister, 1819 [4] [4] Erotic Biography: “I Did It Very Well” Suedeutsche (2017): “Gay Pride” in the 19th Century  

Diary writing idea #2: A Day in One Line

If the day was terribly long and your eyes are already closing in the warm glow of the bedside lamp, you can use this short version of diary writing. Write down a summary of the day in bullet points or record a particularly important event. Here is a personal example from my diary when I set off on a backpacking trip to Cuba:

• 7 October 2017 Anna. Airport. Goodbye to Thorben. Stomach ache. Sleep. Wild taxi ride.

• 8 October 2017 Jet lag. Bad mood. Siesta. Old town. Cute café. Good mood.

• 9 October 2017 Juan. Breakfast. Visit Juan's family. Siesta. Flirts and flamenco.
  

• 10 October 2017 …

Diary writing idea #3: The Dream Diary

What does it mean when I suddenly find myself in a dream in a duel with a horse-sized duck? Michael Schredl from the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim has developed a method to better understand your own dreams. This is mainly about talking to other people about the confusing visions, because that creates connection. [5] [5] Psychology/Brain Research Spektrum (2019): Sleep: What Dreams Reveal About Us So that you can still remember your dreams over breakfast coffee, it is best to write them down immediately after waking up. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What happened in the dream?

• How do the dream and reality relate?

• What upset, touched, or pained you the most in the dream?

• How do these feelings relate to feelings in reality?

Bonus question: Would you wish that the upsetting dream content would change? How could it change?

Diary writing idea #4: The Mental Filing Cabinet

A diary is a complaints department that never closes – not even on holidays when your dear family once again gets on your nerves. You can unload all your anger, your self-doubts, your fears, your tears on the empty pages. Then you resolutely close the book cover and all your negativity is composted into the past.

Write down everything that is burning in your soul. Even thoughts that make you uncomfortable. Especially thoughts that make you uncomfortable. You can swear and insult and let your feelings run wild. There is nothing you have to be ashamed of, because no one will ever read these lines. If you want to be absolutely sure of that, you can write on loose sheets of paper and then burn them. Getting rid of your negative thoughts in physical form helps you shake them off emotionally as well. In this form of diary writing, it is not about holding on, but about letting go.

I can shake everything off while I write;
my worries disappear, my courage is reborn. – Anne Frank

Diary writing idea #5: More Than Just Saying Thank You

Those who are grateful can enjoy positive feelings more and experience fewer negative feelings in the long term, such as anger, guilt, sadness, fear, envy, or worry. Those who are grateful have increased self-esteem and can deal with burdens and stress more easily. Those who are grateful even sleep better. [6] [6] Unique and Long-Term Effects of Gratitude Emmons, R., McCullough, M. (2003): Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subject Well-Being in Daily Life 

In everyday life we often say “thank you”, but we don't take the time to actually feel gratitude. That is why handwriting [7] [7] How Handwriting Promotes Wound Healing Koschwanez, H. et al (2013): Expressive Writing and Wound Healing in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial   in a gratitude diary is the ideal habit to benefit from the above-mentioned advantages in the long term.

We are not grateful for anything like we are for gratitude. – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Diary writing idea #6: Expressive Writing

Hardly any form of journaling is as scientifically well-researched as expressive writing. In the 80s, psychologists James Pennebaker and Joshua Smyth made a groundbreaking discovery. In an experiment, they had a test group write about trauma and difficult childhood experiences, while the other group recorded trivial everyday experiences in writing. Although some participants in the first group felt upset immediately after the experiment, their health benefited from the emotional cleansing in the coming months: compared to the control group, they sought medical attention significantly less often. [8] [8] The History of Expressive Writing Pennebaker, James W., Smyth, Joshua M. (3rd edition, 2016):  Opening Up by Writing It Down 

How this writing technique can help you with wound healing and chronic ailments or even get you a job, you will find out in this blog post. There you will also find the original writing instructions of the experiment. If you want to get started right away and integrate expressive writing into your diary routine, here is a short guide. 

Think of a difficult moment from your childhood. Now take 15 minutes and answer two questions while writing: What happened? How did you feel about it? Write freely from the heart and don't pay attention to beautiful handwriting or spelling. 

Diary writing idea #7: Paint Success

What comes to mind first when you hear the word “success”? Yachts, gold medals, and lucrative advertising contracts? Thunderous applause and champagne showers? Lofty goals that unfortunately rarely become reality for us ordinary consumers? Or also 70-hour weeks, career ladders, and competitive thinking? No wonder many of us can't identify with the word “success” or even feel intimidated by it.

Use your empty pages as a success diary to paint your personal idea of success: Which people do you admire and why? What were your most important successes so far? What should your life look like in 5, 10, and 25 years? 

Visions are the archive of the future. – Thom Renzie

In our6-Minute-Success Journal we encourage you to think about your innermost values and what really motivates you. Then the practical section helps you integrate these values into your life day by day and thus realise your personal definition of success.

Diary writing idea #8: Pick up the pen

We can be so convinced that something is good for us, we will still find excuses as to why we don't have time for the gym this week, pizza instead of salad is on the menu today, or we just don't have any ideas for writing in the diary. After this article, you can at least no longer accept the latter excuse. Feel free to save this blog post as a bookmark and get inspiration again and again to steadily fill the pages of your diary.

____________________

This post is by Amelie Haupt. Thanks to her studies in business psychology, she is the “Psycho-Aunt” of the 6-Minuten-Verlag. She likes her texts, like her life: with structure. She needs it too when she's on the go again as a digital nomad.

Sources:

[1] Psychological and physiological effects of expressive writing NCBI (2013): Effects of Expressive Writing on Psychological and Physical Health: The Moderating Role of Emotional Expressivity

[2] Keeping a diary makes you happier The Guardian (2009): “Keeping a diary makes you happier"

[3] The Diaries of Anne Lister Treasures of the West Yorkshire Archive Service: The diaries of Anne Lister from 1808-1840

[4] Erotic Biography: “I Did It Very Well” Suedeutsche (2017): “Gay Pride” in the 19th Century

[5] Psychology/Brain Research Spektrum (2019): Sleep: What Dreams Reveal About Us

[6] Unique and Long-Lasting Effects of Gratitude Emmons, R., McCullough, M. (2003): Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subject Well-Being in Daily Life 

[7] How Handwriting Promotes Wound Healing Koschwanez, H. et al (2013): Expressive Writing and Wound Healing in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial

[8] The History of Expressive Writing Pennebaker, James W., Smyth, Joshua M. (3rd Edition, 2016):  Opening Up by Writing It Down